Beechwood Residential Care Home

Updated 18 December 2018

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

This comprehensive inspection took place on 31 October and 02 November 2018 and was unannounced. The inspection team consisted of one inspector.

Before the inspection we reviewed information available about this service. The previous registered manager had completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). The PIR is a form that asks the registered provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We also reviewed notifications that had been sent to us. A notification is information about important events which the provider is required to send us by law.

We requested information about the home from Healthwatch and the local authority. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion, which promotes the views and experiences of people who use health and social care. The local authority has responsibility for funding people who use the service and monitoring its safety and quality.

During the inspection we spent time with people in the communal areas of the home and we saw how staff supported the people they cared for. We used the Short Observational Framework for inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us.

We spoke with six people who lived at the home. We also spoke with five relatives of people who lived at the home.

Although the registered manager was on annual leave at the time of our inspection they came into work and were present for the majority of the inspection. We spoke with the deputy manager, the regional manager and a quality support manager. In addition, we spoke eight members of staff including lead care staff, care staff, the activities coordinator, the chef and maintenance staff. We sought the views of three visiting healthcare professionals.

We viewed the care records of four people, three staff recruitment files and checked how people’s medicines were managed. We looked at information which showed us how the registered manager and the provider monitored the quality of the service provided and how they were planning to make improvements. We also looked at accident records as well as complaints and compliments received.

Updated 18 December 2018

This inspection was undertaken on 31 October and 02 November 2018 and was unannounced which means the provider did not know we were coming. At our last inspection in February 2016 we rated the service as Good in each area and Good overall. Following this inspection, the rating of Good overall remains. We have however changed the rating of the safe question to Requires Improvement.

Beechwood is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Beechwood accommodates up 38 people in one purpose build building across four separate units, each of which have separate adapted facilities. One of the units specialises in providing care to people living with dementia. There were 28 people living at the home at the time of the inspection. This was because one unit was closed for refurbishment.

A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

People were supported to have their medicines and checks were undertaken to ensure these were administered as prescribed. Some creams left unsecured were removed once we brought this to the attention of staff.

Infection control procedures were in place although there were incidents when these were not always met which could potentially place people at risk.

Due to recent staff shortages the permanent staff were supported by agency staff. The provider had held recruitment drives to cover the vacancies. They were determined to recruit the right staff to ensure they could care and meet the needs of people who live at the home. Checks were made on the suitability of staff.

People were cared for by the staff who had knowledge of how to keep people safe and what to do if they believed people to be at risk. People’s wishes were taken into account to ensure people’s preferred life styles were met.

People’s needs were assessed before they moved into the home and these were reviewed as to ensure they could be met. Healthcare professionals were involved in people’s care and support so decisions could be made about their needs. Staff ensured people had enough to eat and encouraged people to drink. People were complimentary about the food provided. Where concerns were identified these were brought to the attention of healthcare professionals.

Staff were supported by their managers and received the training they needed to provide the care and support people required to keep them safe and maintain their wellbeing.

People were supported to have maximum choice about their lives and were supported in the least restrictive way possible. Staff spent time with people talking about important things in their life and had developed a caring relationship. People were encouraged to make decisions about their day to day life. People’s privacy and dignity was respected.

People were encouraged to take part in fun and interesting things while at the home. People were confident their views would be acted upon.

The provider was working to make improvements in the home in areas such as staffing as well as in refurbishment.